Sherrerd Hall a study in light

Princeton’s newest building, a deceptively simple glass cube nestled into
the east side of campus, dissolves into the silhouette of nearby sycamore trees
and the fiery clouds of a late summer sunset.

The eye seeks to discern edges, to distinguish the building’s boundaries
against its backdrop — the sky, the trees, neighboring structures — but its
chameleon skin resists.

“It has an ethereal quality that connects it to its environment,” said Fred
Fisher, principal of Frederick Fisher and Partners, the award-winning Los
Angeles firm that designed the building. “Glass reflects the environment and
opens a building to the world. It connects what goes on inside the building to
the campus and community outside.”

Fisher’s vision for the 45,000-square-foot building, which stands along the
east end of Shapiro Walk, evolved from the functionalist principle that a
structure’s essential form derive from its intended purpose. The design
foregoes traditional styles and grand artistic gestures in favor of simplicity,
reflection and transparency.

“The building starts with two things,” Fisher said. “One is the programs
that will be housed inside, and the other is the site where it’s located on
campus.”

In commissioning the project, Princeton also sought a building that was
distinctive yet in harmony with existing architecture, according to Mark
Burstein, executive vice president of the University.

Sherrerd Hall uses subtle architectural details to blend in with
neighboring campus buildings. White frits on the windows help soften the edges
of the glass structure and make it more energy efficient by reducing the amount
of sunlight that shines inside. Sherrerd's cubed shape echoes nearby buildings
such as the Friend Center for Engineering Education and Mudd Manuscript
Library, which is pictured here in the background. (photo: Brian Wilson)

“With each project we try to choose an architect who will design a unique
addition to this extraordinary campus,” Burstein said. “New structures must
also relate to their surroundings. Getting this tension right, which I feel
Fred has, is the essential strength of our built environment.”

Sherrerd Hall stands on the edge of a quadrangle bordered by several other
modernist buildings, including the Friend Center for Engineering Education and
Mudd Manuscript Library. Burstein said Fisher’s firm was chosen for the project
in part because his past work resonated with these existing buildings.

“Fred had created other very impressive works, but he did not have an
extensive portfolio of institutional projects when we interviewed him,”
Burstein said. “It was a bit of a risk, but Princeton takes its role as a
patron of architecture very seriously. We feel the University should give
architects who do not have a building on every campus an opportunity to design
a project. This type of commission can lead to a fresh approach to design
challenges on our campus.”

Sherrerd Hall, named for 1952 alumnus John J.F. Sherrerd, shares broad
themes and subtle details with its neighbors. Its boxy form and straight lines
particularly echo the minimalist outlines of Mudd Library (designed by Hugh
Stubbins and Associates and completed in 1976) and the Friend Center (designed
by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and completed in 2001), giving the quad a
crisp modernist feel. The buildings are of similar height, and Sherrerd and Mudd
feature recessed bases that bring human scale to Shapiro Walk and give the
buildings the impression of cubes floating in mid-air.

The cubist theme repeats in the rectangles of Sherrerd and Friend’s windows
and of Mudd’s bricks, a consistency of shape and proportion that lends the
quadrangle a fractal quality. To soften the hard lines and blunt the glare of
sunlight inside the building, the architects covered Sherrerd with a mix of
frosted glass panels and custom windows fritted with white marks that resemble
splashes from an artist’s brush.

“We wanted to avoid the ice cube character typical of glass buildings,” said
Joseph Coriaty, a partner at Fisher’s firm. “The frits and frosted panels help
dissolve the edges and get away from the sense of the building as a solid
object.”

The building boasts another element to help soften the glare of light: the
University’s first “green roof.” Plant-filled trays installed on the roof will
reduce water pollution, energy costs and the emission of greenhouse gases that
result from heating and cooling.

“Many little strategies go into making a sustainable building,” Fisher said.
“The roof absorbs rain runoff. It’s also a great insulator. The frit pattern
and glazing on the windows reduce solar gain, so the building stays cooler in
summer.”

California artist Jim Isermann produced a metal and light sculpture
that serves as a centerpiece for Sherrerd Hall’s main stairwell. As with the
rest of the building, the sculpture plays with light, focusing its lamps in
myriad directions while at the same time reflecting the shapes and colors
around it. (photo: Brian Wilson)

While the exterior treads gently in its built and natural environment, the
interior draws its essence from the distinct human culture that calls it home:
two academic entities that merge the rarified fields of mathematics and
computer science with the organic complexities of human society.

The Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering, the larger
of the two, focuses on helping organizations such as corporations and
government agencies to optimize performance while reducing exposure to risk.

“We are the practical side of economics,” said John Mulvey, a professor in
the department, explaining the financial applications of their research. “We
take economics as our science and apply it to real-world problems.”

The other inhabitant, the Center for Information Technology Policy, brings
together researchers in computer and social sciences to study policy issues
related to emerging digital technologies.

The collaborative nature of these programs, which break down traditional
barriers between engineering and the humanities, inspired Fisher to create a
building that facilitates interaction among its work-week inhabitants.

The main entrance opens to a three-story atrium, tiled with black granite
and dubbed the “town square” by the architects, that provides café-style
seating area for people to relax and chat. The theme of informal meeting spaces
is echoed on the upper floors, in lounges furnished with cozy couches, chairs
and tables, and hung with chalkboards and whiteboards intended to spark
brainstorming sessions.

To balance the coldness inherent in the simple geometric forms and glass,
Fisher “domesticated” the interior with ample use of wood in office and
classroom doors and other accents.

Two decorative elements bring vertical cohesion to the atrium and stairway
as they traverse the building’s strata. An open stairway climbs through a glass
enclosure extending from the front of the building, allowing people inside and
out to see who’s milling around the interior or walking past on Shapiro Walk.

“We tried to pack the social spaces around the atrium to activate the
space,” Fisher said. “The stairways are on the outside walls so the life of
people moving around inside is apparent. Intellectual and actual transparency
were very important.”

Even the dark cherry panels that cover the atrium’s main wall from floor to
ceiling echo the building’s dedication to mathematical disciplines. The wood is
honeycombed with Islamic space-filling patterns, a decorative style
characterized by symmetric webs of repeating polygons and dating from a time
when the Islamic world was a beacon of learning and innovation. The panels also
cover the back wall of the main lecture hall, bringing a meditative air to the
46-chair classroom.

In another nod to numbers, a sculpture by California artist Jim Isermann,
whose work finds a common denominator in complex geometric designs derived from
simple shapes and colors, rises through the stairwell.

The sculpture’s metallic, trellis-like frame supports dozens of rectangular,
chrome-framed lights, each tilting in its own direction, and reflecting more
light than it produces. Like the building’s exterior, the piece borrows much of
its identity from its surroundings.

“Light is a central theme throughout the building,” Fisher said. “It’s a
kind of lantern, a lantern of knowledge and circulation. The transparency
facilitates conversation, participation and collaboration.”